And it begins!

Erica is an advocate for simplicity, family time, making a cozy home and loving others well. She is the community coordinator for One Orphan, the orphan care ministry of America World Adoption Association. Erica and Calvin have four young children; Elliott, Charlotte, Lola and Liam. They currently reside in Nashville, TN.

Almost 4 months ago we found ourselves in Ethiopia bringing home our third child. There are four days that I hold very dear, my favorite days: our wedding, Elliott’s birth, Charlotte’s birth and the day I held Liam and brought him home forever.

Now we are looking forward to adding a fifth day to that list.

We have contracted with America World Adoption agency to adopt our daughter from China! We don’t know exactly who she is right now, our parameters are 2-4 years old and we are adopting through the special focus program. This means she will need a little extra care but we are so blessed to have Vanderbilt Children’s hospital in Nashville. We are confident that we will be able to meet her needs and we can’t wait to get started doing just that! Because we are going to be matched with a waiting child we will receive our “referral” much faster than we experienced with Liam. It’s an amazing day when you see your child’s face for the first time so we are greatly anticipating that day already!

Why Adopt from China?

There is a very large number of children currently waiting for homes. Many of these children are older or have special needs.

We feel a special connection to China, due to Calvin’s heritage, and find it very natural to respond to what is currently happening with the orphan crisis in China.

We simply feel that this is the door that God has opened for us as we continue to build our family through adoption.

We have room for more. In our family. In our home. In our hearts.

We are incredibly excited to begin this journey again. It wasn’t easy with our first adoption and it won’t be easy this time. However, we have an advantage. We have seen firsthand the way God builds a family through adoption. It’s an incredible thing and we are humbled to walk this road a second time.

Side note: Elliott and Charlotte have already proposed 3 names: Lisa, Debbie and Stacey. Their teacher’s names. Naming will be a little different this time as our little one will be older. We’ll just have to see!

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About the author

Erica

Erica is an advocate for simplicity, family time, making a cozy home and loving others well. She is the community coordinator for One Orphan, the orphan care ministry of America World Adoption Association. Erica and Calvin have four young children; Elliott, Charlotte, Lola and Liam. They currently reside in Nashville, TN.

7 Comments

I wish I could be like you Erica!!!! You light up my heart!!! My hat goes off to you!!! I can only say God Bless you and Calvin and I wish the world had more people like you!!! I love you and I am so proud of who you are!!! love Aunt Cheri

How exciting Erica!!! Josh and I have always talked about adopting a little girl from China. I bet this sweet girl would a perfect Emmalyn 🙂 I just need to meet Elliott and Charlotte for them to agree! Praying for your growing family!